Business ProfileforUS Educational Financial Solutions, Inc.

In 2017 I received a resource packet that appeared to come from ********** EDD that included materials that appeared to be from a government agency (US Educational Financial Solutions, Inc., now Level Debt) claiming to provide assistance with debt management to the newly unemployed. I contacted them and they lied to me. They falsely stated that it was MANDATORY in the ******************* to enroll in credit counseling and pay a monthly fee of ***** until my debts were settled (which could be years), in order to obtain debt relief services. Then, they referred me to an out of state debt relief company who was recently sued by the attorney general of *************, and the **** for approximately 7 million dollars for failure to disclose excessive fees and numerous other consumer law violations. In a recent email, the debt company claims that they have not had a working relationship with USFS for many years, so USFS has no idea what my financial situation is, so how could they give relevant advice? Additionally, it is illegal to charge fees for credit counseling in *************, so this appears to be a scheme to skirt the law, sell debtor information, and rip off consumers. I did not receive any legitimate credit counseling, and instead of reducing my financial burden and assisting me in making sound decisions, I was bilked out of thousands of dollars from both of these companies. I have reached a reasonable settlement with the debt relief company. In a recent phone call with USFS, they claimed to be a debt broker, not a credit counseling agency, and said that I should have filed bankruptcy. I would like a refund for the amount that I paid as a result of false claims. I do not have the exact number but have paid ***** for 4 years for a REFERRAL to a dubious debt relief company. This was not sound financial advice, it is a scam, and I want a full refund. Most of the complaints against this company repeat the same scenario.